Self-study
General Context
I began studying in March of 2025. Originally my plan was to attend law school starting in 2026, but my wife advised me to adjust my timeline. Since then I have been a little spotty studying. My resolve was there, and I would go through streaks of studying 2+ hours everyday at the library, but I live a very busy life (army reserves commander, full-time management job with overtime, house reno, etc.). I have gone through about 50% of the 7Sage curriculum, along with the whole of the LSAT Trainer, and the Loophole. Right now I can religiously get a low 170s test on an untimed PT. I aim for the August LSAT.
Mental Burnout/Path Forward Background
About every 2 out of 3 questions I get wrong are because of misreading because I not fully engaged in the text, or just simply disengaging. I sometimes read a stimulus and realize I have no idea what I just read, or if something has a little tricky language I have to fight my brain to focus on it. I probably average around 2 questions a test that I get wrong that I got the logic wrong, the rest is this. It just feels as though my brain is seeing the LSAT as a fight, and trying to disassociate from it. Even for questions I find easy I sometimes have to labor to get my brain to fully think out why the answer is correct. This doesn't feel like something I can fix by just drilling my way out of it, rather it feels more foundational.
Questions
How do I fix the problem of disassociation or mid-test/section mental burnout problem in time for the August LSAT?
Knowing the background of my studying, how would you recommend going about studying the remainder of the way? Just chug along and push through?
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3 comments
Have you transitioned mainly to doing PTs/sections timed? It's possible that if you mainly do untimed work, then you've gotten too comfortable without the pressure of the clock. So when you do timed work, some combo of nerves or the novelty of the situation affects how you read and how engaged you are. If this is what might be happening, I think the solution is doing your PTs/sections only timed going forward.
Another option is to start small; do 5 questions timed, then 10, then 15, then start doing sections, then PTs. And when you do these questions timed, don't worry about the clock; just get as far as you can while reading carefully, breaking down the stimulus, identifying assumptions, picking an answer. Your goal for these exercises isn't to get everything right. It's to practice focusing under time.
You're right that it's possible that there are foundational issues with reading/reasoning going on. A very high untimed score however suggests that's not too likely to me.
If the process I described above doesn't seem to help, then you might consider whether you need a break. A few days off can help, especially if it helps you manage other responsibilities in life, too, which can allow your mind to focus more on the LSAT when you get to it.
@Kevin_Lin Thank you for your input and feedback. I think my desire to achieve a consistent 180 before heading into timed is holding me back. I have been viewing it as my ceiling if I move on without it, assuming that anything else will only be as good or worse. I will try your recommendations, and just trust the process that I can continue to improve. Thanks again!
@MicahGlim one thing that @MichaelWright said once that was really helpful to me as far as mindset is that you shouldn't be taking PTs to get reassured about getting the score you want, you should take them with the goal of practicing and learning something from your mistakes. So if you don't do well on your first timed PTs, that's okay! Think of them as an opportunity to learn new things about your process (e.g. what questions are you confident about that you can answer quickly, how good is your intuition under time pressure, how do you deal with questions you can't figure out right away, etc.) I think if you can get low 170s untimed, you are more than ready to start trying to apply your skills under time pressure. In fact, I think you're probably hurting yourself by not starting to practice timed exams, as timing (at least for me) has been more than half the battle. I hope this helps!